United News of Bangladesh

Acute power outages have gripped Mymensingh region at the very start of Baishakh as electricity supply continues to fall short of rising demand, causing widespread suffering for residents, businesses, and key economic sectors. Frequent load-shedding is being reported across the district with rural and remote areas bearing the brunt more than district and upazila headquarters. The ongoing crisis is severely affecting fisheries and poultry farms- two of the region’s major economic drivers — while also disrupting the ongoing Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations. With electricity unavailable for hours, people are struggling with intense heat and mosquito infestation, making daily life increasingly difficult. Business owners have expressed frustration, saying they are already forced to close shops by around 7:00pm and recurring outages of two to three hours throughout the day are adding to their losses. Masudur Haque, executive engineer of the Mymensingh Grid, said electricity demand in greater Mymensingh zone — comprising Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, and Tangail — rises to 1,200–1,300 megawatts during peak evening hours amid extreme heat. However, supply remains between 700 and 900 megawatts. On Monday, power supply stood at 840MW at 10:00am, he said. In Mymensingh district alone, peak demand reaches around 400MW in the evening while average demand stands at about 250MW. Sources said power generation at the Mymensingh Rural Power Company has dropped drastically due to gas shortages. Against a target of 210MW, production has fallen below 50MW. Besides ,Jamalpur United Power Development plant, which has a generation capacity of 315MW, is currently producing only 66–67MW due to fuel constraints. Subrata Roy, executive engineer of the Mymensingh South Power Distribution Division, said demand in the zone ranges from 450–460MW during off-peak afternoon hours to 500–520MW during peak periods, with other times seeing demand between 430 and 450MW. However, a daily shortfall of around 50–55MW persists, necessitating load-shedding, he said. Officials of various Palli Bidyut Samities said the situation is particularly severe in their respective service areas. Md Golam Mostafa, general manager of Mymensingh Palli Bidyut Samity-3, said demand in their area stands at 70–80MW, with 20–25MW of load-shedding required during peak hours. Md Janab Ali, general manager of Samity-1, said their areas require 160–170MW but receive only 80–100MW, forcing them to impose 30–40 percent load-shedding. Abdul Majid, deputy general manager (technical) of Samity-2, said demand in their areas exceeds 300MW, with outages affecting 30–50 percent of supply during both peak and off-peak hours. Visits to different upazilas  including Ishwarganj, Gauripur, Tarakanda, Fulpur, Dhobaura, Fulbaria, and Muktagacha in Mymensingh revealed that residents are experiencing power cuts lasting between three and eight hours daily. In more remote villages, outages can stretch up to seven or eight hours. SSC candidates are among the worst affected. Ashrafunnahar Rayda from Bogar Bazar in Trishal, and Naeem and Jobayer from Trishal municipality, said they face power cuts of five to seven hours daily, severely hampering their studies. The heat and mosquitoes make it almost unbearable to concentrate,they said. Farmers are also facing mounting losses. Fish farmer Roman Mia from Chikna Monohor village in Trishal said continuous irrigation is crucial during Baishakh, but outages are disrupting water supply, affecting fish growth — especially for those producing fry. In Fulbaria’s Rangamatia area, poultry farmer Ayub Ali said many chickens are dying due to heat. “We are spraying water on tin roofs, while some farmers are using generators or IPS systems to run fans,” he said. Power division sources said hourly load-shedding data and demand reports are being regularly sent to regional offices. However, unless generation and supply increase significantly, the situation may worsen further with rising temperatures, they said.